cult film freak: ANTHONY PERKINS RETURNS FOR 'PSYCHO II' WITH MEG TILLY

Meg Tilly foxes Norman Bates in PSYCHO II Year: 1983 Rating: ***

The infamous yet somewhat unfairly maligned PSYCHO II actually includes the surrounding town viewed clearly during daylight hours, a friendly sheriff (Hugh Gillin), a helpful shrink (Robert Loggia), and a somewhat mysterious young lady, played by Meg Tilly, who becomes a kind of little sister/ingenue for Norman Bates...

And while the passive, newly-released Anthony Perkins returns as the legendary killer, he winds up helping the vulnerable young beauty survive, in and out of the greasy spoon diner where they work, and at the spooky manor, she even takes a shower... safely...

Anthony Perkins in PSYCHO II

Meanwhile, Vera Miles returns as Lila, sister of shower-slain Janet Leigh, and her last name is Loomis, not Crane... but John Gavin's wooden Sam Loomis, is dead and gone; and for worthy reason, twofold, so Lila is extremely bitter... yet that aspect shouldn't be spoiled...

Although we can say that what consists of the second PSYCHO is that Norman is more or less a sympathetic victim of possible vengeance, and the suspense relies on who and what's messing with his head, and who else could be killing several people including a sexed-up teenager caught in the famous fruit cellar, and a boozing slime bag manager (Dennis Franz), who's turned the Motel into an hourly brothel...

Anthony Perkins in PSYCHO II with Meg Tilly

So the superior first half's a body-count horror providing effective thrills, chills and utterly painful deaths by Australian Hitchcock fan Richard Franklin (ROADGAMES) using John Carpenter's ominous-camera-weaving cinematographer Dean Cundey, not trying to compete with the original while adhering to the 1980's horror template...

But the second half, as so many ingredients are added to the who and the why and the how of all the phantom manipulation, there's an overkill of expository dialogue and not enough continuous slashing: Although the last fifteen minutes makes up for lost time but, overall, director Franklin fared better with his own exploitation-style than trying to emulate camera-angles from his mentor, the master.